Hey guys, so I’ve hired a personal trainer for the last two weeks, because as an ectomorph I’m struggling to get decent gains regardless of my diet and exercise and I was looking for some advice and help, but I don’t feel comfortable with him, he carry a good reputation and his “method” seems to work, accordingly to a few people that have trained with him, mostly bodybuilders with years of experience, but I don’t know if it is me that I’m wrong or I’m better stay away from this guy, here are the key facts that make me think that maybe I’m better on my own:
I had a very detailed of log of what I’ve eaten everyday from the past year, with macros and calories that seems to work for me, he told me that is useless so I must throw it away.
I also had a log of major exercises with weight and repetitions that I have made, now I’m lost with that because he told me that I don’t need to keep that unless I’m a powerlifter, and that my main concern is to keep metabolic stress.
The first evaluation he insist on weight me and take measures of me, regardless that I’ve eaten a good meal as post workout in the previous hour, the next evaluations were the same, I had my meals but also he weights me and takes measures.
The “diet” that he recommends doesn’t have any activity consideration, age, weight, is more like a “one size fits all” diet and are most like it’s based on his experience.
The warm ups are a little strange, at least for me, something like 2 sets of 50 reps, or 2 sets of 100 reps.
On the good side:
Workouts were kinda good.
Good reputation from a couple of people.
What do you think about this? Should I stay with this guy? Or I’m better grinding alone.
Forget this rubbish. The reason your struggling to get gains is 100% diet and exercise.
If you havnt made any progress on your own, and your new guys methods are completely different to what you have been doing, maybe just maybe it’s what you need.
Question him on things that don’t make sense to you. If he has rational answers that make sense, it might not be bullshit (it still might be though).
Someone who is a trainer should have reasons for what they are doing. Part of why you are paying this individual I assume is to gain knowledge, not just results.
warm ups tend to vary drastically between individuals. I know people that have to warm up for 30min, others need zero warm ups. as I’ve gotten older my warm ups have increased in time and variety of movements.
anyways, 2 weeks isn’t enough to judge any program. give it 3 months.
as an ectomorph I’m struggling to get decent gains regardless of my diet and exercise
You need to be honest with yourself and ask if you don’t feel comfortable because he is challenging your beliefs or because you actually get a bad vibe.
If you don’t gel, then I’d look at a different coach, relationship is one of the most important factors in this situation. If you’re just butthurt that someone is telling you the bleeding obvious and you can’t accept it, then perhaps this is exactly who you need.
Well after a quick conversation with him today I’m shocked, I asked about the training and diet and how this and that is going to help me reach my objectives, and he just say that he is preparing me for my first cycle, WTF!
I respect the decision of people that choice to go with that kind of things, but I’m absolutely out!
what country do you live in? This is a pretty common thing in certain parts of the world. I’m not surprised.
This is a good learning experience. I have 2 pieces of advice for finding a new trainer.
Be straight forward with the next trainer you interview about what you are and what you are not willing to do to get big and strong. Make sure you’re clear on your boundaries and your expectations.
As others have suggested, you must trust your trainer. Once you have made the commitment to a particular trainer, the best thing you can do for yourself is do EVERYTHING he says. Don’t second guess him. If it doesn’t work out, oh well. You’ll learn something from it and you’ll be better equipped to hire your next coach. Make sure you give ANYONE you hire a solid 3 months to work with you, or more, to properly evaluate them as a coach.